Manufacturing Leader – Lean, Quality & Safety

Calnetix is an engineering and manufacturing company located in Southern California, committed to making a positive contribution to society and the environment by changing the way the world harvests and utilizes energy. We are focused on developing, manufacturing, and delivering advanced energy solutions for commercial applications throughout the world and for mission-critical applications for the United States Government and its Prime Contractors.

Calnetix thrives on innovation and meeting new challenges. In partnership with OEMs, we utilize innovative, proprietary high-speed electric motor-generator technologies to develop next-generation, power-dense and energy-efficient products that reduce energy consumption, harmful emissions and enhance energy security.

We are seeking a Manufacturing Manager who is expected to build a strong operations team, establish clear production priorities, monitor performance metrics, resolve production constraints, and foster a blame-free culture of safety, quality, and continuous improvement while maintaining a strong sense of accountability for the team.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead daily manufacturing operations to achieve safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity objectives.
• Develop, manage, and communicate production schedules, priorities, staffing plans, and resource requirements.
• Supervise, coach, train, and develop production supervisors, leads, technicians, assemblers, machinists, or other manufacturing personnel.
• Monitor production performance, labor utilization, throughput, scrap, rework, on-time delivery, and other key operational metrics.
• Identify and remove production constraints, resolve manufacturing issues, and escalate risks as appropriate.
• Partner with Quality to ensure products meet internal, customer, regulatory, and industry quality requirements.
• Collaborate with Engineering on manufacturability, process development, work instructions, tooling, fixture needs, and production readiness.
• Coordinate with Supply Chain and Planning to support material availability, inventory control, and production flow.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives using Lean manufacturing, 5S, standard work, root cause analysis, and other operational excellence tools.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, safety procedures, training requirements, and applicable workplace regulations.
• Support equipment utilization, maintenance planning, facility organization, and safe material flow through the production area.
• Prepare and present operational updates, staffing needs, capacity plans, and performance reports to leadership.

Education, Skills, and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in manufacturing, Engineering, or related field preferred; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Minimum 7–10 years of manufacturing experience, including direct leadership responsibility in a production environment.
• Demonstrated ability to lead manufacturing teams, manage supervisors or leads, and develop production personnel.
• Experience working in a regulated, high-mix, low-volume, precision manufacturing, aerospace, electronics, machinery, or industrial manufacturing environment preferred.
• Working knowledge of quality systems such as ISO 9001, AS9100, or comparable manufacturing quality standards preferred.
• Experience with Lean manufacturing, 5S, standard work, visual management, continuous improvement, and root cause corrective action methods.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, bills of material, work instructions, routings, travelers, and production documentation.
• Experience using ERP, MRP, MES, or similar production planning and reporting systems.
• Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, make sound decisions, and lead effectively in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Intangibles Sought:

• Hands-on leader with strong floor presence and the ability to build trust with production teams and develop a strong sense of ownership, accountability, and follow-through.
• Balanced focus on safety, quality, delivery, cost, people, and continuous improvement.
• Collaborative, cross-functional mindset with the…